The Best Christmas Ever
by TrustTheCloak
Summary: Gilan is determined to give Will a great Christmas, slightly sick or not... Halt is a lot less sure.


Halt was almost certain who had arrived before they had even walked up the porch steps. Partly from Abelard's greeting whinny, but mostly because Christmas was tomorrow. And if Christmas was tomorrow, Gilan would undoubtedly be here.

The light, energetic knock on the sturdy wood door only confirmed what Halt suspected. Shifting the door open, the grizzled Ranger was greeted by none other than the cheerful grin and bright, blue eyed gaze of his former apprentice. "Morning, Gilan," Halt said easily. "What are you doing here?"

Gilan's smile only widened. "And a merry Christmas to you too, Halt," the lanky young man replied, unfazed. "And all the more merry for my mere presence, yes?"

Halt rolled his eyes, a faint smile touching his lips despite himself. "Of course. Do grace us with your mere presence some more."

Gilan laughed as he entered the cabin. A second later, it turned in a hoarse cough that its owner tried desperately to muffle. Halt raised an eyebrow.

"That's a rather nasty cough you've got," the older Ranger said casually, eyeing his former student with concern. Halt had learned years ago that Gilan's immune system was rather pathetic, especially in winter. Gilan, however, shrugged.

"It's just a cold." Gilan replied, in a rather unconvincing tone. "Besides, it's Christmas. A little thing like a cold couldn't keep me away."

Halt's eyebrow came up skeptically, but he didn't press the matter. Instead, he said, "Will is going to be happy to see you. He took Tug out, but he should be back soon."

"I'm taking him sledding later today." Gilan stated as he stretched his long legs across the couch, coughing into his sleeve once more. "The snow's perfect."

Halt pursed his lips. "Don't stay out too long."

"I know!" Gilan answered enthusiastically. "Because we still have to go ice skating, and have a snowball fight, and -"

Halt sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I swear, the cold will be the death of you. I tell you every year. And every year, you get horribly sick for weeks. I wonder what might happen if you listened?"

Gilan gnawed at his chapped lower lip. Finally, he answered, "It'll be fine. I'm going to give Will the best Christmas of his life."

* * *

"Hang tight," Gilan warned as he prepared to push the sled off the hill. He was in front, his legs stretched out in front of him, while Will sat behind, tightly hanging on to Gilan's chest.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Will asked, sounding slightly breathless.

"Nope!" Gilan called out, then quickly pushed the sled off before Will could compute what he had just said. The sled flew down the slope, barely seeming to touch the ground, gliding smoothly over the snow. Will clung tightly to his friend, his head turned slightly to avoid the fast pieces of snow and ice flying at his face. Before he even knew what was happening, they caught air momentarily from a small jump on the hill, then landed in a tangled heap of sled, scarfs, arms and legs.

"Wow," Will breathed, pushing Gilan's leg off from where it had landed on his chest. "That was fun!"

Gilan gave a harsh cough, wincing as the cold hurting his chest, then attempted to clear his throat. "Told you," he answered, wiping his running nose. Climbing slowly to his feet, he was unable to mask his dizziness, swaying slightly as he stood. Will looked at him with concern.

"Gil? Do you feel alright?"

Gilan attempted a smile, then said with strained lightness, "Of course! That was exhilarating. Jostled me a bit, is all."

Will's face was still slightly troubled as he studied his friend, but he answered, "If that's all... Want to do it again?" Will could have sworn he saw Gilan grimace.

"Again? Mhm, right. How about you go try it? I'll stay down here and catch my breath, yeah?"

Gilan caught a flash of worry in the boy's eyes again, but Will only said, "Sure. We can do it together after I get back down."

"Yup. Yes, sounds great." Gilan said, his voice thick with forced cheeriness. Watching Will begin to trek back up the hill, Gilan allowed himself to drop the plastered smiled. Angry with himself, he muttered, "Keep it together, Gil. Got a long way to go yet." Momentarily, he considered the idea that Halt was probably right about him being sicker then he realized. Truly, nothing sounded better then curling up on Halt's well worn couch, in front of the fire and under thick blanket. Sadly, he shook himself of his fantasy. "Snowball fight next," he mumbled, watching Will fly down the slope and bracing himself for the climb up the hill.

* * *

"So, you have to pack it tightly, so that it holds its shape," Gilan explained as he patted the snowball. "If you really want it hard - and quite frankly, perfect - you dip it in water. Freezes it to ice." Glancing around them, Gilan continued in a lowered voice, "I threw one of those at Halt once. He reckons his left eardrum's never been the same." He paused, a sneeze escaping him, then continued in a rather pondering tone, thought his voice was hoarse, "Halt said some rather colorful language that day. He later bribed me into promising never to repeat it."

Will listened with a sort of awed smile. "Wow," he said for the second time that day. Gilan's boldness impressed him. Halt's former apprentice seemed to be made of sheer nerve, spunk, and just a little bit of luck.

Gilan opened his mouth to speak again, but was hit with a harsh fit of coughing. When it finally stopped, Gilan leaned wearily against a tree before continuing. "So, we throw them at each other. If one of us gets hit three times, the other person wins..." he trailed off. Will frowned as he noticed Gilan's glazed eyes seemed to be staring, rather unfocused, somewhere into the distance.

"Gilan?" The boy prodded.

Gilan snapped back with a slight jump. "Mhm? Right. Throwing snowballs."

Will bit his lip. "Gilan, you don't look very good. Maybe we should go back to the cabin, so you can rest for a while."

Gilan scoffed, the expression slightly drained. "I don't need to rest. I promised you the best Christmas ever, and that's what you're going to get." Before Will could protest anymore, Gilan tossed his snowball at Will. It smacked into his right arm. "One hit for me!"

Will quickly put his worries into the back of his mind, despite the small nagging sensation that told him Gilan really didn't feel as well he kept insisting he was. Scooping up a snowball, he moved to run after the lanky young Ranger, a smile breaking through his face.

* * *

Will won the snowball fight, mostly because his last hit was was so easy it barely counted, since Gilan, in a moment of light headedness, had propped his forehead against a tree and hadn't really cared about anything else. Will immediately felt guilty for not hauling Gilan's lanky form back to the cabin the moment he had started questioning his friend's health, because if he had thought Gilan looked bad before, he now looked awful. Paper white, shivering, his nose streaming and his thin frame racked with coughing fits.

"Ice skating," Gilan murmured, almost to himself. "Just ice skating left..."

"Gilan, we need to go back to the cabin," Will said, wishing his young voice had a more authoritative ring to it. "You're sick."

Gilan shook his head, wiping at his running nose. "Just ice skating, then we can go. I promise," he pleaded thickly.

Will gnawed the inside of his cheek. "You look like you're about to collapse," he offered, not liking the idea of Gilan, already swaying and seeming unable to walk in a straight line, on something slippery.

"Mhm. Collapsing. Maybe. I mean, no," Gilan answered, coughing once more. "I feel fine."

"Come on, we can go back to the cabin, and you can sleep. Please?" Will coaxed, subtly crossing his fingers behind his back.

Gilan slowly considered. "Fine," he sighed, not having enough energy to argue any longer. "Halt was right," he slurred grimly as they began their slow-moving walk back to the warm little wooden cabin, Gilan holding tightly to Will's arm to keep himself upright.

* * *

Halt glanced up as the door creaked open, and immediately cursed under his breath at the sight of his decidedly foolhardy former apprentice leaning heavily on his current apprentice, their rather abrupt height difference making it slightly comical despite the situation.

"You foolish boy," Halt grumbled as he helped Will lead Gilan over to the couch, which he all but collapsed onto. "I told you, didn't I? I tell you, every, single, time!"

"Save the lecture," Gilan muttered as Halt felt his forehead for fever, then quickly withdrew his hand with another quiet curse which confirmed that, yes, Gilan did in fact have a fever. "I never learn, and I was stupid to go out, I know."

"All too right you were." Halt snapped, tucking a blanket around his former apprentice with a rare tenderness, despite his tone. "I suppose you should have something warm to drink."

"Coffee?" Gilan seemed to perk up a considerable amount as he said it, but quickly clouded over at Halt's reply.

"Not coffee. Tea. Better for your throat."

Halt turned into the kitchen, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like "ignorant apprentices that never learn", and Gilan, with a spark of his usual humor, mouthed to Will, " _Mother-hen_ ". A second later, he turned somber.

"I'm sorry, Will," the young Ranger said dejectedly. "I just wanted to give you the best Christmas ever... But I ruined it."

He looked so downcast that Will leaned over and hugged him. "You didn't ruin it. This _has_ been the best Christmas I've ever had."

Gilan's brow furrowed. "How?" He asked, genuinely confused as he took the cup of steaming tea Halt offered him.

Will smiled. "I'm getting to spend it with my first real family."

Because they were. An odd and dysfunctional family, maybe, but a family nonetheless.

* * *

 **A slightly late Christmas story. Mainly just fluff, because Gilan would be such a great big brother. I may or may not have recently watched Frozen Fever (I have).**

 **Please review, if you can spare the time.**

 **-TrustTheCloak**


End file.
